


(out of) the blue

by beomshell



Category: Day6 (Band), GOT7
Genre: 2Jae, Alternate Universe, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:32:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25576609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beomshell/pseuds/beomshell
Summary: Jaebeom knew it would be difficult finding employment after graduating from university, especially with where he lives. He gets a lot more than he bargained for after he winds up moving to a new city, landing his first job working as a casual replacement for a very special, very accident-prone teacher.How will he describe his experience working with Mr. Choi once the year is over?
Relationships: Choi Youngjae/Im Jaebum | JB
Comments: 19
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flrsdumal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flrsdumal/gifts), [ourspring](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourspring/gifts).



> a very, very overdue birthday fic i am sorry!!! i hope u eggs like it... i love u a lot

**Choi Youngjae was out of Jaebeom’s league.**

He’s a little younger than him, but he’s been a full-time teacher for almost two years at the school they both worked at. Granted, Jaebeom had completed his degree in primary education only last spring, after a few years of not knowing what to do with his life. He had grown tired of working full-time in retail, and becoming a teacher instead had always lingered at the back of his mind, especially whenever he was being yelled at by an angry customer. It took Jaebeom a while compared to others his age to figure things out, but he finally got there in the end. 

Fate was somehow kind to him, when the schools closer to home only cared for hiring new staff who had previous experience in teaching. It forced Jaebeom to seek out opportunities further and further away from Ilsan. He eventually jumped at the chance to move to a different city in the middle of nowhere (to him), taking on a casual role at the local elementary school for the time being. It was June by the time he had finally landed a job, almost eight months after he had graduated. 

His interview went by smoothly, and he took a liking to the principal almost immediately. “You see, Jaebeom... My nephew teaches a class in the third grade here at this school and well… he’s...” Mr. Choi pauses to sigh and rub his temples. “How can I say this? Youngjae’s immune system is quite weak, and he gets himself injured occasionally. Our last casual couldn’t keep up with the amount of times she had to be called in. So if I’m being completely honest, you could not have applied at the right time.”

Jaebeom stays silent and nods carefully. _Poor guy_ , he thinks to himself. 

“You’re from Ilsan, huh? That’ll be quite the commute. Do you drive at least?”

“I’ve looked into some apartments nearby,” Jaebeom answers, earning a smile of relief from the older man. He then gets introduced to Younghyun, a sixth grade teacher, who gives him a brief tour of the school during lunch. They stop in front of Class 3-3, which was locked at the time. The teacher in question was nowhere to be seen. Jaebeom peers into the little glass window to take a look inside, trying to imagine himself teaching there one day. It had been a while since his last practical placement, which he quickly admits to Younghyun. The two of them miss the opportunity to seek Youngjae out himself, who Younghyun suspects was hiding in the music room again. They exchanged numbers as soon as the bell rings, and Jaebeom was thankful to have made a friend right from the very beginning. 

And the rest was history, sort of. 

Surprisingly enough, Jaebeom had his first day at the school after signing his contract to cover for a different teacher altogether, getting a call from Old Man Choi (as Younghyun had nicknamed him) at the very last minute. It was only a half-day, as Mr. Park would be back after recess, so really Jaebeom would be spending more time getting there than actually teaching. He prepares himself mentally and physically for the early train and bus ride in the morning, and gets little to no sleep the night before. He couldn’t wait until he was able to settle into his apartment, once he was given the all-clear by his new landlord.

Younghyun greets him right by the gate, accompanied by a gorgeous man wearing an obnoxiously yellow button-up.

“You’re Jaebeom, right?” he grins, reaching out to shake his hand. The beauty _himself_ grabs his outstretched hand with both of his own, ignoring the way Jaebeom flinches from his touch. 

“He’s so handsome, don’t you think Brian?”

“Brian?” 

“Ignore him,” Younghyun mutters. “Don’t listen to anything he says, actually. Let’s go inside.” 

“You look like a movie star. Or a model. I like your nose. Is that a piercing hole?” 

“Stop zooming into his face and watch where you’re going!”

“How was the trip here?” he continues, ignoring Younghyun with a grin. “Uncle said the view from the windows through that line is nice.”

So this _was_ Youngjae, the principal’s dear nephew. As if it wasn't obvious enough already.

“I slept through most of it,” Jaebeom admits shyly. 

“Yah, Youngjae. Don’t you have courtyard duty right now?” 

“Can we swap?”

“No, I need to laminate some things,” Younghyun says firmly.

“I’ll do it for you!”

“GO, before I tell your uncle. I’ll introduce Jaebeom to the rest of the staff.”

“You’re only here for half a day, right?” Youngjae asks, his voice softening up considerably. “Stop by the classroom before you go, I can introduce you to the students.” 

“O-okay,” he nods, watching as Youngjae takes a few large steps forwards and turns himself around. Now walking backwards, he gives Jaebeom a warm smile, timed perfectly as a band of sunlight from the corridor passes over him. Jaebeom manages to catch the slight twinkle in his eyes before Youngjae suddenly takes off in another direction.

“Don’t run in the hallway!” Younghyun yells, and Youngjae slows down before turning around to stick his tongue out at the pair. There were a few giggles here and there as they watched Youngjae disappear through the hallway. It was still rather early in the morning, and Jaebeom wonders if the students were used to seeing their own teachers being yelled at. 

“That would be Mr. Choi,” he sighs. “Annoying, isn’t he? He didn’t even say who he was.”

“I pictured him differently,” Jaebeom murmurs, still in a daze. 

“Like what? That’s your class, by the way. We need to get the sign replaced.”

Younghyun leads him into the staff room, and Jaebeom says a little ‘hello’ to everyone present before he prepares for his semi-official teaching debut. His first day at the school goes by quite smoothly, much to his surprise. More specifically, it goes by so fast that Jaebeom remembers any of it as a blur at best. He receives a message on his phone from Younghyun, saying that Mr. Park will arrive back at the school in roughly half an hour, so Jaebeom figures he should stick around for the time being. After sending the students off to recess, Jaebeom quickly writes down some notes to leave behind for their teacher. 

It’s been a busy morning, so he lets himself stay still for a moment with his brain on standby. He’s not particularly hungry, and staying alone in the classroom for a little while longer leaves Jaebeom feeling extremely out of place. 

Ignoring the hushed whispers and pointed fingers as he walks down the corridor, Jaebeom finds the staff room during the last fifteen minutes of recess. He’s hoping to find Younghyun at least, but neither him nor Youngjae were anywhere to be seen. It was probably too late to text him and ask. He takes a seat on the kitchen table, which was thankfully unoccupied and scrolls through Instagram until the bell rings. 

This was it. Home stretch, all Jaebeom had to do was stop by Class 3-3 and face Youngjae and the rest of his students.

Mr. Choi was busy maintaining a single-file line while his students entered their classroom. There was a large, brown coffee stain on his shirt that wasn’t there in the morning, and Jaebeom just... he melts. Combined with his yellow shirt, Youngjae really looked like a human sunflower. He definitely had the bright, dazzling smile to go with it.

Looking back, Jaebeom shouldn’t have poked fun at his friends in college who believed in love at first sight. He suddenly doesn’t know what to do anymore, besides from running away. 

This was his opportunity to escape without being noticed, but the footsteps approaching from behind him fall on deaf ears. Jaebeom feels himself suddenly being grabbed, holding back a yelp. Youngjae wore a lot of rings on his fingers, but Jaebeom wasn’t so sure if they had anything to do with the tingling feeling in his wrist. 

“Jaebeom?” Youngjae tilts his head expectantly. The look on his face radiates ‘Where are you going?’ without having to say it himself. 

“...Youngjae, hello.”

“You’re not stopping by?”

He swallows nervously, and Youngjae slowly releases his iron grip after sensing something was wrong. “How was class?” he asks in a sweet voice. 

“Good, went by fast. Students were nice.” 

Youngjae chuckles a little at the last sentence. “That’s great to hear!” He compliments Jaebeom even further, which prompts him to make his third mistake of the day. 

“I have to head home, something came up,” Jaebeom lies through his teeth, looking at a big scuff on his shoe he hadn’t noticed earlier. 

“Oh,” Youngjae replies with a disappointed pout, and Jaebeom regrets it immediately, because he could’ve easily introduced him to his class within the time Jaebeom had spent standing there like an egg. “Is everything alright?” Youngjae asks out of genuine concern, and he feels guilty more than ever. It wasn’t worth formulating another lie, mostly because Jaebeom was terrible at making things up. He just nods instead.

“That’s okay, next time then,” Youngjae says with a little smile, finally letting him go. Jaebeom bids him goodbye, and he doesn’t dare look back as he starts to jog a little, just to keep up the act. 

To summarise Jaebeom’s first day at work, he had three (main) regrets: not eating recess when he should have, trying to run away from Youngjae, and not turning his ass around after doing so. 

Two weeks later, he finally moves and settles into Mokpo. His apartment is a roughly-estimated ten minute walk from the school, although the rent was a bit of an issue. He misses his parents dearly, but he’s loving every single moment exploring the city during his free time. The change of scenery keeps him busy enough to only think about his first-day blunders every so often, even though everything yellow reminds him of Youngjae. Including butter. Jaebeom spends his free days familiarising himself with the neighbourhood, noting down which cafes had better coffee, and even resumes jogging one night after establishing a good route. 

As much as Jaebeom had tried to convince himself otherwise, deep down he knew that his interactions with Youngjae would come in much larger doses in the future. He needed a way to tackle him in a sensible manner, because Jaebeom was a grown man. There were only so many times he could run away. 

For the time being, Jaebeom tries to co-exist with the yellow tiles that decorated his kitchen and bathroom floors. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back at uni once again... i am so sad


	2. Chapter 2

**Youngjae was out of action… so this was it.**

It finally happened.

After a week of living in Mokpo, Jaebeom had spotted more stray cats than he’d ever seen living back in Ilsan, which he takes as a little blessing in disguise. He had always wanted a cat of his own. Either way, life was great so far. It really felt like an adventure. 

But that ‘next time’ Youngjae spoke of that day never came to be. 

Jaebeom received a call in the middle of the night from Younghyun, who explains in a freakishly calm voice that Youngjae had somehow sprained his ankle after a mishap at their local ice-skating rink earlier that afternoon. To cut to the chase, Youngjae was in the hospital and Jaebeom was now Class 3-3’s teacher… for an indefinite amount of time.

“Is he okay?” Jaebeom asks, trying to push back thoughts of him being suddenly thrown into the deep end in the upcoming weeks ahead. Youngjae was his priority tonight.

“He’ll live. It was only a matter of time, I’m on my way home from the hospital right now,” Younghyun mutters. “Well, this is your big debut. The principal will fill you in tomorrow. We’d usually wait until the morning to let you know but... I thought you’d appreciate the heads up.”

Younghyun sounded exhausted, and obviously not as cheerful as he was the two previous times Jaebeom had met him. He apologises again for the late night call, and Jaebeom understands completely. 

The next morning, Jaebeom wakes up earlier than usual to head to work. Choi Senior gives him a run down of what to expect, and once again Jaebeom asks if Youngjae is okay. He is, the principal reassures him, but right now there were other things to worry about. Like how Youngjae hadn’t prepared a lesson for the day, which has his uncle rubbing his temples while they’re on call (audio only) at 7:15 AM. Jaebeom tries not to laugh at how Youngjae tries to worm his way out of being scolded, especially once he realises Jaebeom was present in the room. 

Jaebeom has Youngjae’s _'Bye Uncle! Bye Jaebeom!'_ still ringing in his ears by the time he wraps up for the day. The class was well behaved, and although they had grown accustomed to having substitute teachers, they sure took advantage of Jaebeom looking as clueless as he felt. 

“Are you _sure_ Mr. Choi lets you eat during class?” he asks Dowoon, who nods earnestly with half a chocolate bar shoved into his mouth. “Ask him,” the little boy mumbles. Dowoon even gets up during the middle of class just to put his rubbish into the bin, so Jaebeom lets it slide for the time being. Either Dowoon was telling the truth or he had mastered the fine art of bluffing at the tender age of eight years old. Jaebeom doesn’t miss the giggles coming from the surrounding students. 

But unauthorised in-class snacks aside, Jaebeom ends everything off in a good mood. Younghyun raises an eyebrow at Jaebeom when he passes him a handmade ‘Get Well Soon’ card for Mr. Choi, decorated and signed with messages from his students. “They’re getting better at drawing him,” he notes. 

“Who, Youngjae?” 

“You know, from Mr. Men and Little Miss? Mr. Bump,” Younghyun explains, pointing a finger at one of the green, bandaged figures drawn all over the card. Jaebeom had no clue what any of those were, quickly searching it up on his phone with a grin. “But… isn’t he supposed to be blue?” he asks.

“Blue and yellow make green,” the fourth grade teacher responds nonchalantly.

Jaebeom takes a sip from his coffee, more confused than ever. 

“You know what I think?” 

“What?” Jaebeom asks again, nervously.

“I think you should pay our dear Youngjae a visit at the hospital. I know you don’t have a car, but I can give you a lift there.” Jaebeom stares at one of the more neatly-drawn Mr. Bumps, not really knowing what to say. His heart was racing unnecessarily fast. 

“After this stack I’ll be heading off for dinner at my cousin’s house tonight. The hospital is on the way, and he’ll definitely be happy to see you. If you want to go you’ll have to find your own way home though.”

There were only so many deep ends the universe could throw Jaebeom into within 24 hours. The first thought that pops up in his mind is the chance for some redemption. He feels his head nodding before he even realises, but Jaebeom keeps his eyes glued to his lap and misses the smirk plastered all over Younghyun’s face. 

So that’s how he finds himself equipped with a small bouquet of sunflowers from the hospital’s florist, a box of chocolates and the card made by Youngjae’s students, taking a deep breath before entering his room. Jaebeom was determined to make up for running off last time, because who knows when he’ll ever see Youngjae again. He realises he might have overdone it with the gifts as he places the chocolates down onto the ground in order to open up the door.

And there he was.

Youngjae’s skin looked a little pale, and his lips could do with a bit of chapstick. He barely notices Jaebeom entering the room, and he doesn’t even look like he’s listening to the nurse as she’s talking to him. 

“Mr. Jaebeom, we meet again,” Youngjae greets him with a sleepy smile, and Jaebeom feels his heart race as his smile widens at the sight of what’s in his arms. 

“Mr. Youngjae, did you just wake up?” Jaebeom plays along, and there’s some slight panic rising inside as he feels his cheeks warm up a little. There’s no heater in the room he could pin the blame on. 

“I see you’ve brought some gifts,” he murmurs, dismissing Jaebeom’s question. “Are these for me?”

As soon as the antics were over, Jaebeom places the items onto his bedside table as Youngjae goes over the basics. He informed him of the systems he had in place when it comes to his classroom layout, and where things were located. Somewhere along the way he picks up some momentum, and despite being in a pitiful state with his leg suspended in the air, Youngjae was quickly back to his bubbly, energetic self. He starts giving him advice on how to deal with nit-picky parents, and detailed instructions on how to keep his class plants alive. There’s a quick recap on how to pronounce some of their students’ names and tips on memorising them quickly. Jaebeom gets permission to use any of the stickers Youngjae had stashed in his stationery drawer, but _not_ the holographic bear ones — because he bought them for himself but forgot to take them home one day. Soon enough it quickly spirals into more niche topics, such as unspoken staff kitchen etiquette, when to bring in lunch from home and which days the canteen served Actual Food. 

“Youngjae…” Jaebeom reluctantly interrupts him, cringing as he does so. 

“Yeah?”

“I won’t remember all of this, I’ve already forgotten what the—”

“Right... Right, sorry,” he quickly apologises, and Jaebeom regrets saying anything at all. “I’ll write it all down for you in an email.” 

“I’d appreciate that, thank you.”

Youngjae bats his hand in the air to dismiss him. “It’s fine, I know I tend to ramble. Do you want this?” Youngjae asks, pointing at the juice box on his half-eaten tray of food. “I don’t like apple juice,” he explains, passing it to Jaebeom. “Take it.”

Jaebeom accepts it not to be rude, wondering when the last time was when he had one himself. They’re a lot smaller now than what he remembered them to be.

“Are you nervous?” 

Jaebeom gives him a tiny nod. Hell, he’s on edge just being around Youngjae, trying hard not to crush the carton of juice in his fist. He places it on his lap for the time being. 

“Don’t be. They’re good kids… most of the time,” he reassures him with a warm smile. “But you know that already. I’ll send them an email tonight too.”

“Do the students even check their emails?”

“Some do.”

“Will you be okay?”

“My ankle is fractured, Jaebeom. Everything else is fine. You’ll be too.”

“You have all of my contact details, right? Let me know if you need anything. I think I’ll be out of here in a week or so.” 

Jaebeom nods, tracing his finger across the plastic-wrapped straw glued to the side of the carton. He makes an attempt to gather his thoughts, because there’s a lot of them right now and he doesn’t know which to focus on first. Youngjae probably picks up on it, and tries to ease his nerves a little.

“Just last week I explained to the kids what ‘breaking a leg’ meant. I didn’t think I’d actually demonstrate it for them,” he says softly, almost as if he was realising it for the first time himself. “That wasn’t my intention at all… The things I do for them, don’t you think?”

Thankfully, that does the trick. 

Jaebeom couldn’t stop himself from puffing up his cheeks, and he quickly cups his face between his hands to hide his smile. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.”

Youngjae grins, “You were supposed to!”

A knock on the door interrupts the pair, with a nurse reminding Jaebeom that visiting hours ended in ten minutes. It brings him back down to Earth, because Jaebeom found himself having way too much fun given the seriousness of the situation at hand. Youngjae was still injured, and Jaebeom had some very, very big shoes to fill. 

“I’ll probably use up some of the leave that I have saved up. It’d be good if you taught them for the rest of the year. I’ll talk to my uncle about it.”

Jaebeom still couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Once again, it probably shows on his face.

“Jaebeom, I’ll be fine. This isn’t my first time at the hospital. They should have a ward named after me with the amount of times I’ve landed myself here. So don’t worry about me, okay?”

A nod was all he could manage. “I’ll take care of them.”

“Good,” he smiles. “Will you message me? I’ll be bored out of my mind. My uncle is sending me off to live with my parents, until I can walk around on my own…”

“That’d be for the best,” Jaebeom grins, and Youngjae retaliates by tossing a used napkin in his direction. Jaebeom was no a physicist, but even he knew something that lightweight should not have travelled as far as it did. Maybe Youngjae was a professional shotput champion in a past life. 

Jaebeom knew better than to try and throw the napkin into the bin from a distance, so he picks it up and takes it with him on his way out the door. The only information that he retained from his visit specifically revolved around Youngjae himself. He dislikes apple juice. He’s even more of a klutz than the principal had led him to believe. The school nurse has a drawer of first-aid supplies specifically dedicated to Youngjae. Despite the short amount of time he spent with them this year, Youngjae loved each and every one of his students, even the ones Jaebeom knew would give him migraines for the rest of the semester. 

He wonders if he would have enough time to visit him again sometime during the week. Or if he’d barely make it out alive like he’d managed tonight. Were the flowers and chocolates a bit too much?

It’s dark by the time Jaebeom steps foot from the hospital, and he’s welcomed with a fresh breeze of air. It clears the slight headache he didn’t even know he had, but instead of making his way home for the night, he finds an empty bench to sit on. 

“Is everything alright there son?”

“Huh?” Jaebeom blurts, looking up to find an elderly man face to face with him. “Oh, yes. I’m fine, thank you.”

“Just making sure,” he smiles, and Jaebeom can’t help but wonder if those were his real teeth or some dentures. 

Nodding his head in appreciation, Jaebeom gives him a convincing smile.

Jaebeom watches as the man walks away, regretting his decision to not return the question. Maybe he just wanted someone to talk to, judging by the solemn expression on his face. Either way, Jaebeom wasn’t sure he’d find the right words to say to begin with. Jaebeom had just landed a semi-permanent gig because Youngjae had gone off and messed up his ankle, so he considered himself quite lucky. He definitely feels guilty for being too lazy to walk home, and instead he calls a cab to pick him up at the nearest parking lot.

The very moment Jaebeom clicks his seat-belt into place, he receives the longest push notification he’s ever seen in his life. 

_The_ Choi Youngjae knows his newly-assigned email address. Jaebeom ignores the fact that it wouldn't be difficult at all to search up in the staff directory. He moves on to wonder just how fast of a typer Youngjae was, given its sheer length and the amount of detail it contained. Perfect grammar, no typos. An all-round professional email, even with Youngjae’s use of flour-leaf clover emojis in place of bullet points. He leaves his number under his signature at the bottom, and Jaebeom takes a huge leap and decides to send him a message right there and then instead of replying to his email. There was no way he could follow up with a measly-worded ‘thank you’ after something like that. It takes him almost the entire car ride home to come up with a name for Youngjae in his contacts.

Hi Youngjae, thank you for your emaol **[08:33pm]**

Email **[08:33pm]**

**Mr. Youngjae**

**[08:34pm]** jaebeom!!

 **[08:34pm]** you’ll do great!! call me if you need anything, ok??? 

**[08:41pm]** ah… i’m bored already

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if youngjae had his way he'd send all his emails in lowercase too

**Author's Note:**

> [follow me on twitter!! ](https://mobile.twitter.com/bbomdi?s=09) requests are okay <3


End file.
